UK science to fore in privatised Moon mission
private spacecraft carrying an instrument built by UK scientists is due to make history as it begins its journey to the Moon.
Built by US space company Astrobiotic, the Peregrine Mission One (PM1) is set to become the first private probe to land on the lunar surface.
It is also slated to be one of the first US Moon landings since the final mission of the Apollo programme – Apollo 17 – more than 50 years ago.
Onboard will be an instrument known as the Peregrine Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer (PITMS), which was developed in the UK by scientists from the Open University and the Science Technology Facilities Council’s RAL Space – the UK’S national space lab.
The device will analyse the thin lunar atmosphere as well as find out more about how water might be moving around the Moon.
For many years, scientists believed the Moon was totally dry and any water detected in the samples from Apollo missions were thought to be contamination from Earth.
However, more recent missions have revealed the presence of water and, in 2020, Nasa confirmed the presence of water molecules in sunlit areas of the Moon.
Dr Simeon Barber, of the Open University, said: “Various new data in the last decade has overturned the Apollo-era notion of the Moon as a bonedry place.
“We have seen hints of ice at the cold lunar poles, and suggestions of water (or the related hydroxyl molecule) globa ally, as well as new analyses of Apollo samples showing small pockets of water within the lunar rock itself.”
Understanding the lunar water cycle is crucial for future exploration of the Moon.
Water is a key resource for sustaining human presence on the Moon – providing drinking water as well as supporting various industrial processes.
Dr Barber added: “We are interested in how these water molecules travel through the lunar exosphere [atmosphere] under the influence of day-night temperature cycles, eventually reaching the supercold polar regions where they accumulate slowly as frost or ice layers.
“This transport through the exosphere is the link connecting the various sources of water, and their eventual fate locked up in polar cold traps.
“PITMS will measure the composition and density of the lunar exosphere through the lunar day, allowing us to deduce the processes at play on the moon today, and by extension, throughout the Moon’s history and on other similar planetary bodies.”
The launch window for the Peregrine lander opens on Monday at 7:18am UK time.
The spacecraft will blast off aboard a Vulcan Centaur rocket, built by US aerospace manufacturer United Launch Alliance, from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
It is part of Nasa’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, which aims to involve commercial companies in the exploration of the Moon. This is all part of Nasa’s broader Artemis programme, which plans to return humans to the Moon, paving the way for further exploration of the solar system.
It will analyse lunar water and the Moon’s thin atmosphere